Celtic Tommy Burns 1

Tommy Burns was brought up in Glasgow's east-end, Soho Street.in the Calton, born 16th Dec.1956.
He attended St.Mary's Chapel in Abercromby street and the football he learned in those early years stood him in good stead when he joined his beloved Celtic.

He married Rosemary and they had four children, Jenna, Emma, Michael & Johnathan.

Living the dream..................
1973 joins Celtic as a player from Maryhill juniors, making his debut in 1975.
Jock Stein once said Tommy Burns has a left foot that "makes the ball talk"

1989 he left Celtic after agreeing a £50K move to Kilmarnock, playing his last game in December.

1992 became Kilmarnock manager.
1994 July 12th is appointed manager of Celtic released from his contract and sacked on 2 May 1997.
1997 assistant manager to Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle.
1998 appointed manager of Reading and was sacked in 1999.

2000 rejoins Celtic as youth development officer after Martin O'Neil was appointed.

2002 March 13, Berti Vogts Scotland manager names Tommy as part time No.2.

2004 Vogts resigns, then on Dec.2 Walter Smith is named manager and keeps Tommy as his No.2

2005 Gordon Strachan appointed Celtic manager and appoints Tommy as 1st team coach.

2008 May 15th Tommy dies of cancer.

Tommy lived the dream, player, manager & coach. A true Celt..

Thomas "Tommy" Burns (16 December 1956-15 May 2008) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is also a former Scotland international, winning eight caps whilst a Celtic player.

Burns played for the Bhoys in 1973 from Maryhill, a junior team from Glasgow, and he made his debut against Dundee Utd on 19 April 1975. He was a vital part of a side which won a league and cup double in the club's centenary season, 1988. In total he made 352 league appearances and scored 52 goals.

The following year, Burns moved to Kilmarnock where he became player-manager in 1992, winning the club promotion to the Premier Division in season 1992-93.

He moved to become manager at Celtic at the start of season 1994-95 in acrimonious circumstances as he was still under contract to Kilmarnock as both player and manager. Kilmarnock refused to release him from his contract and the Scottish Football Association subsequently fined Celtic £100,000 for 'tapping', or speaking to Burns without obtaining Kilmarnock's permission. Kilmarnock were also permitted to retain his playing registration, effectively ending his professional career as a player.

At Celtic, his team grew a reputation for playing attractive and attacking football and they won the Scottish Cup in 1995. However he was not able to bring the required success to the club as Celtic proved unable to break the domination of Rangers. Burns was sacked from Celtic in 1997 and went on to work under Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle United. He later moved on to a period of management at Reading.

He became assistant manager of the Scotland national football team under Berti Vogts in 2002 and retained the position under Walter Smith. He returned to Celtic for a third time when Martin O'Neill placed him in charge of youth development. Upon the arrival of Gordon Strachan as manager in 2005, Burns was appointed First Team Coach, a role he combined with his Youth Development Post.

On 18 January 2007, Burns announced through Celtic's official website that he was severing all ties with the Scottish national team to concentrate on his role at the club. It was reported that Burns had found out that he was not a potential candidate for the job of national team coach.

On 29 March 2006, Celtic confirmed Burns had begun treatment for skin cancer. On 10 March 2008, Celtic announced that Burns was facing another skin cancer scare, and would be undergoing further treatment for the disease. On 15 May 2008 Tommy Burns died at his home.

Celtic and Scotland have lost a diamond of a man who was driven by family, faith and football